Lucky And Vin

Our Imagination let loose; Opinions raging; Views bouncing between the pros and cons; Inventions and Solutions; Recipes for Success; Confusion of Relationships – All this and more under one roof between Lucky and Vin

VSNL – TATA INDICOM Broadband hell!

Be it Kerala or Karnataka, the one internet connection that can drive you insane, burn up huge craters in your pockets and that from which you would rather stay away, is without a doubt the Tata Indicom connection. They claim they are ‘India’ best internet connection with unbeatable speed.’ But believe me, that might not be the exact sentiments of the public.

The price of each pack is exorbitant. I mean, really! With so many other connections, one would think that Tata Indicom would at least try to be more competitive by bringing in actual value-added services and offer packs. But no. As the years progress, all that happens is it gets tougher to select an internet pack with VSNL’s rocketing prices.

Initially we had purchased (due to ignorance and urgency) the Surf Power 7500 plan; 2 mbps for Rs. 3034/- valid for 6 months.

Since it was a new connection we thought it was ok. Also, Airtel (another lazy service) had not yet put a connection in the area we live (and still have not). But later, to recharge this Tata Indicom account, the least expensive plan they had was Rs. 1000/- for 3 months at 2mbps speed. They charge around Rs 0.38 per mb or 8/hr. This is Surf Power 3750. Isn’t it a little overpriced for the normal layman??!

As I’m away from home sometimes for extended periods, upon returning, I find that the net connection does not work! Upon calling customer care services, the first time if the executives are busy they say the estimated time is less than 6 minutes. Once we get fed up and hang the call to try again after awhile, they say that the estimated time to take our call is less than 8 minutes! Now, what kind of customer treatment is that??! Plus, their number is NOT toll free. ‘Appreciating that we have taken our time to call them’ is not enough and is not the requirement here. Clients call them not to chit chat but to inform them how inferior their services are.
How can I not call their services inferior when EVERYDAY at sharp 10 am their servers go down??!

Recently when I faced the same issue – Error 678 – (5 times in 1 week!!!) and checked after 7 hours (according to the minimum time taken by them to resolve any issues!) to check if the internet connection was working, can u believe what the executive told me? They said that the complaint showed a status of closed because they spoke to my “Husband” and he said it was all working fine! What bullshit when my husband is away on official purposes and I answer all the calls!

Personally, I find it a big hassle to keep badgering the customer service executives with the same issue every single day. There ought to be some way by which the customer is able to speak directly to the manager or escalate the issue to someone who can ACTUALLY make some visible changes.

PS:Seems at VSNL (as an executive once told my buddy) when a particular connection is not being used for awhile, they can pull that line for another person’ connection!!!! And this executive advised us to change the switch to “LOOP” when the internet is not in use s that they can monitor when the lines are being exchanged. Can you believe that?!!!